13 Years of Tangkhul CM Rule – Yet TNL Demands Valley Seats Slashed to 25

On the sweltering saturday afternoon of July 12, 2025, the gates of Raj Bhavan in Imphal swung open to admit a phalanx of Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) leaders—faces grim, folders heavy, eyes fixed on conquest. They did not come to beg, although their memorandum said that they have been treated as beggars. They came to dictate.

Handing the Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a memorandum dripping with ultimatums, they demanded 35 of Manipur’s 60 assembly seats—carving the valley’s 40 down to a humiliating 25—while brandishing claims of “90% tribal land” and a population ledger that magically balanced 15 lakh in the hills against 17 lakh below. 

This was no petition; it was a battle cry. And just yesterday, November 7, 2025, they staged a war council disguised as a “consultative meeting” at TNL’s fortress-like headquarters in Ukhrul. Beneath the roof of the TNL Office cum Multipurpose Complex Hall in Wino Tang, President Sword Vashum and Delhi advocate Worso Zimik orchestrated a tribal summit—Kom Naga Union, Zeme Naga Council, Rongmei Naga Council, Maring Uparup, Tangkhul Hoho Nagaland, Khoibu Naga—all chanting the same three-point war chant: 35 seats, budget bifurcation under Article 371C, Sixth Schedule under Article 244A. 

They swore the last had “nothing to do with Naga nationalism.” The lie hung in the air like gunsmoke. This is not dialogue. This is detonation. And the fuse is already lit.Yet, in the same breath that TNL paints the valley as a bloated “Meitei majority” hoarding 40 seats, they slyly bundle the Pangals (Manipuri Muslims) into the valley’s 17 lakh headcount—making the non-tribal bloc look invincible. 

Peel away the Pangals, and the truth bleeds out: as per the 2011 Census, Meiteis number only 12,51,307 (43.82% of Manipur’s 28,55,794 souls), while Pangals stand at 2,39,836 (8.40%). Add the two and you get 15,91,143—still a plurality, but no absolute majority when hills hold 41.2% tribals plus valley-dwelling Nagas, Kukis, Nepalis, and others. 

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TNL knows this; their “17 lakh valley” sleight-of-hand inflates Meitei dominance to justify carving 58% of seats for hills that happily waves Naga and Zo flags. Meiteis are not the tyrants TNL screams about—they are a vulnerable 44%, shrinking from 59% in 1951, hemmed into 10% of the land while begging for crumbs of protection. This is the dagger’s twist: accuse the valley of monopoly while plotting to crown yourselves kings.

To understand the gravity of this betrayal, we must first peel back the layers of deception with unyielding facts. Manipur’s legislative assembly, fixed at 60 seats since its inception, stands on the unassailable foundation of the 1971 Census. That enumeration painted a clear picture: 69% of the population resided in the valley districts, while 31% called the hills home. This demographic reality translated into 40 seats for the valley and 20 for the hills in the 1976 delimitation. 

But here’s the crucial point: this structure isn’t some arbitrary colonial relic. It is enshrined in Article 170(3) of the Indian Constitution and fortified by Presidential Orders dating back to 1973. These safeguards have frozen the seat allocation, protecting it from whimsical revisions. 

No law has altered it, no court has overturned it, and no parliamentary debate has dared to tamper with it. Yet, TNL marches forward, demanding a rewrite as if the Constitution were a mere suggestion—as reiterated in their November 7 recommendations. 

Their cry of “50 years of injustice” is a hollow echo, for those same 50 years have bestowed upon hill communities unparalleled privileges: veto powers through the Hill Areas Committee (HAC), disproportionate per-capita funding, and autonomous district councils (ADCs) that rival those in other states. 

Far from being oppressed minorities, they are the pampered heirs of a system designed to uplift them. To demand the crown now is not reform; it is hypocrisy dressed in tribal finery.

Let us delve deeper into the heart of their deceit: the infamous 2001 Census, which TNL clings to like a lifeline, even as they tout yesterday’s population claims of 15 lakhs in the hills and 17 lakhs in the valley. This is no ordinary statistical exercise; it is a documented farce, a blueprint for demographic warfare. 

In districts like Senapati, Ukhrul, and Chandel—strongholds of Naga influence—population “growth” rates soared to absurd heights. Mao-Maram subdivision alone reported a 143% spike, conjuring ghost villages from thin air and inflating figures under the shadow of insurgent coercion. Enumerators, intimidated by armed groups, padded rolls with phantom residents, turning census forms into tools of territorial ambition. 

The Gauhati High Court, in a landmark 2007 ruling, exposed this “statistical terrorism,” invalidating data from three subdivisions and labeling the process a sham. Even the Census Commissioner conceded “technical failures,” a euphemism for blatant manipulation. TNL, undeterred, lobbied fiercely to preserve these inflated numbers, knowing full well they form the basis of their seat-grab. 

By anchoring their demands to this fraudulent 2001 data—and now overlaying it with unverified 2025 estimates—they aim to pilfer 15 seats from the valley before the 2026 census can reveal the truth. This isn’t about correcting historical wrongs; it’s a premeditated coup against democracy. 

In a nation where elections hinge on accurate headcounts, allowing forged demographics to dictate power is akin to handing thieves the keys to the treasury. TNL knows the 2001 census is tainted—why else do they fear a transparent recount? 

Their strategy is clear. The July 12, 2025, memorandum to the Governor—and now the November 7 recommendations—exemplify TNL’s audacity, blending mathematical acrobatics with moral bankruptcy. They paint a picture of hill MLAs burdened by representing vast constituencies across “difficult terrain,” contrasted with valley counterparts. 

But this narrative crumbles under scrutiny. Their latest claims of 90% land ownership by tribals (valley at 10%) and near-parity in population ignore the 1971 bedrock and the 2001 fraud. Valley districts grapple with a population density of 631 per sq km, while the hills enjoy a spacious 44 per sq km. The “difficulty” they lament isn’t rugged mountains—it’s the luxury of breathing room, unencumbered by urban pressures. 

Then comes the crowning insult: “Nagas have been beggars for 50 years. Enough is enough.” Beggars? By picking “beggars” over “marginalized” or “under-served,” TNL insults their own people. This from a community wielding HAC vetoes that halt legislation in its tracks, enjoying 40–60% higher per-capita allocations than the valley, and basking in ring-fenced central grants under schemes like Article 275(1). 

Yangmasho Shaiza stormed in as Manipur’s first hill-tribe CM, holding the gaddi for a total of 2½ blazing years (July–Dec 1974 and March 1977–Nov 1979). Then came Rishang Keishing, the Tangkhul colossus, who ruled for 11 full years across four terms (1980–81, 1981–88, 1994–97). For more than 13 years of Tangkhul iron-fist rule in Imphal’s throne room—yet TNL’s 2025 memo shrieks “50 years we’ve been beggars!” while demanding the valley’s 40 seats be butchered to 25. They wore the crown, now they melt it into victim medals. That’s not grievance—that’s hypocrisy dripping. 

Their ADCs function as semi-sovereign fiefdoms, controlling land, resources, and local governance with minimal oversight. The core of TNL’s hypocrisy lies a profound dual allegiance that borders on treason. One day, they pledge fealty to the dream of Greater Nagalim, waving the Naga flags at rallies, endorsing the NSCN-IM’s 2015 Framework Agreement—a pact that brazenly carves Manipur’s hills into a separate Naga entity. 

Article 371C, intended as a balm for post-statehood anxieties in 1971, has been perverted into a weapon of betrayal—as TNL’s budget bifurcation demand highlights. Conceived to safeguard hill interests, it grants the HAC veto authority over hill-related legislation, mandates Governor’s reports to the President, enforces separate budgets via the 1972 Presidential Order, and empowers six ADCs with powers akin to the Sixth Schedule. 

If hills truly controls 90% of Manipur’s land and boasts near-equal population, why cling to minority protections? Their push for 35 seats positions them as the unchallenged majority, not the “oppressed tribe.” If your claims of vast land and equal numbers hold water, dismantle Article 371C, dissolve the HAC’s veto stranglehold, and compete as equals in a unified arena. 

Let us be clear: no one disputes the hills’ right to fairer representation—it is coming, constitutionally mandated, through the upcoming delimitation exercise that will reflect real population growth, not political whim. The census will speak; seats will follow. That is justice by design.But demanding a deliberate cut in valley seats—without a single statistic, migration report, or electoral audit to justify it—is not equity; it is vengeance dressed as reform. It is a calculated political amputation, not a natural rebalancing. 

No data on over-representation in Imphal, no evidence of systemic disenfranchisement in the plains, no governance failure unique to valley MLAs—nothing but the echo of old wounds turned into policy.This matters deeply because the valley has not been the aggressor since 1949. It absorbed the shock of merger, shared the state’s limited treasury, built roads into the hills, and tolerated decades of insurgent safe havens and blockades without calling for the dissolution of hill districts. 

Tolerance was not weakness—it was statesmanship.Now, in one memorandum, that restraint is repaid with a blueprint for demographic punishment. If the hills truly seek parity, let them bring facts to the table, not fury. Let them demand delimitation with transparency, not targeted downsizing. Equity is measured in numbers, not nurtured in resentment.